Dangerous Tides
by aly-owl2
Summary: Jason has a problem. Its beach day at CHB. Everyone is going except for him, that is, until he is unwillingly dragged along. Piper notices his strange fear of water, but is it really really an irrational fear, or does Jason know something they dont? Is there something more sinister at play beneath the depths? But before he can stop it, tragedy unfolds. Will Jason make it out alive?


**A/N: Hello! I wrote this fanfiction for a friend of mine, KKandPercy! I decided to publish this just for the fun of it. There's some Jasper and Percabeth in it, too. I just couldn't fit it in the description. xD Enjoy! :D**

"Beach day!" Leo screamed. He was ready and fully equipped for the best day ever. He wore his flame covered swim shorts, dorky blue flip flops, and had a pink towel wrapped around his neck. Not to mention he had a bright neon green inflatable pool ring around his waist. It was quite a sight.

Leo rapped on Jason's door excitedly. "OPEN UP SPARKY! IT'S BEACH DAY!"

Leo paused, waiting for a response. No answer.

"SPARKY?" Leo called again. He silently opened the door to Jason's room. The drapes to the windows were still pulled shut, giving the room a gloomy feeling. Not to mention the huge Zeus statue in the middle of the room was glaring at Leo. Man he hated that statue.

In the corner of the room was Jason's bed. It was still rumpled, the covers thrashed and thrown everywhere. And… yep. Jason was still in bed.

Leo didn't even bother being quiet at this point. His loud flip flops squeaked and echoed on the marble floor. He ran up to Jason's bedside.

"Why aren't you awake?!" Leo asked. "Get up!" He threw the sheets off of the bed and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him awake.

Jason squinted and rubbed his eyes. He slowly sat up. "W-Why is it so cold in here? Why are you waking me up?" He whined.

"BECAUSE IT'S CAMP WIDE BEACH DAY! DON'T YOU REMEMBER?! COME ON! EVERYONE IS GONNA BEAT US THERE!"

"Oops. I guess I forgot." Jason shrugged halfheartedly. He yawned. "Well, night!" He fell backwards into his bed, pulling the sheets over his head.

Leo grabbed Jason's arm and tried to pull him out.

"_Come… on! BEACH DAY! The Aphrodite cabin! Girls! PIPER!" _

"That's great and all, but no thanks." Jason sighed. He reached for his bed covers on the floor. "You can just go without me. I have a bunch of chores and stuff to take care of anyway."

Leo looked at Jason suspiciously. "You know, I'm getting the feeling you don't want to go."

Jason shrugged. "Not really. Now if you could just-"

"BUT YOU'RE FROM CALIFORNIA!" Leo protested. "You're blonde! AREN'T YOU LIKE A STEREOTYPICAL CALIFORNIA SURFER BOY?!"

Jason blinked twice. "Um, what?"

"Please! Just come. Or else I'll haunt you, prank you, embarrass you…" Leo grinned evilly. "Oh! There's even this one prank of mine that involves Piper and a ring and-"

"No no no!" Jason said, waving his hands back and forth. "That isn't necessary!" He sighed in defeat. "I'll come."

Leo grinned in triumph.

"I knew you'd listen to reason."

* * *

"Beach day! Beach day! Gonna have fun at the beach toda-ay!" Leo sang, making his own parody of the song "Friday."

Jason rolled his eyes. Of all the songs Leo had decided to sing, this was probably his least favorite. It didn't help that Leo sang off key the entire time. He half expected to see Leo run up to the Aphrodite cabin singing "Call Me Maybe" next.

Piper jogged up beside him. "Hey, Jason." She said. She poked his arm playfully. "Glad you decided to come!"

Jason nodded. He was quieter than usual.

Piper reached for his hand.

"Uh, why are your hands shaking?" She asked.

Jason snapped out of his trance. "Huh? Oh, um, I didn't notice." He took his hand out of Piper's and crossed his arms. She could see his fingers drumming and fidgeting against his skin.

"Are you okay?" She looked Jason in the eyes.

"Yeah…" Jason trailed off, breaking eye contact. His focus shifted ahead. Piper knew that when he was in a mood like this, it was best to wait and let him talk about whatever was bothering him on his own time.

The rest of the way to the beach in Camp Half-Blood, Leo kept singing his Beach Song. By the end of the fourth chorus, Piper was ready to strangle him.

When the three arrived at the shores of Long Island Sound, they could see that the beach was already packed with campers. Instantly, a cool, salty breeze hit Jason. The sun was already high in the sky, making the light dance and shimmer upon the water. It was a camp-wide beach day, and everyone was taking advantage of the free-time they'd been given.

"BEEACCCHH!" Leo ran ahead, arms open wide, and snagged a spot near the shore for the three of them to sit.

Jason and Piper helped set down three beach towels for them all to sit on. Piper had a bag full of snacks, sunscreen, a book to read, and other necessities. Jason hadn't brought much. Just the blue shirt on his back, along with the pair of aviator sunglasses he was wearing.

Leo threw all of his things down and took off running into the water, the green inner tube still around his waist. He splashed everywhere and didn't stop until he was deep in the water.

Piper giggled. "That boy is crazy."

"Tell me about it." Jason smiled.

"You'd think because of his fire abilities, he wouldn't touch the water. But then again, this is Leo we're talking about."

"Huh, yeah, funny…" Jason's focus shifted once again to beyond the water.

Piper sighed and took out a bottle of sunscreen, holding the bottle out in his direction. "Need any?"

He snapped back out of his daze and looked at the sunscreen, scrunching his eyebrows together. "Oh, right. Thanks."

He took the bottle and started putting it on his arms and face. He gave it back to Piper.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "So, are you going swimming in your shirt?" She said, noting how Jason hadn't taken it off yet.

Jason looked at the water dreadfully. "Leo didn't say I had to _get in _the water…" He muttered.

Piper gave him a quizzical look. "Are you afraid of the water or something?"

Jason quickly looked from the water back to her. "What?" He stammered. "Pfft! No, of course not!" He flashed Piper his confident 'Everything is alright!' smile.

She folded her arms across her chest. "Jason…"

He let out a sigh, putting up his hands in defeat. He knew he couldn't hide anything from her. "Alright, fine. Water sort of freaks me out." He lay back on the towel, his finger swirling circles in the sand beside him.

"Is that why you didn't want to come?"

"Kind of, yeah." Jason nodded.

"Well, why are you afraid of water so much? I mean, you ARE from California-"

"WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SAYING THAT?" He huffed. After a moment's silence, Jason continued in a deep, low voice. "Do you really want to know?"

Piper scooted closer and nodded.

"Okay," He began in a low whisper, propping himself up on his forearms, leaning in closer to Piper. "It all started when-"

"JASON! JASON! YOU _HAVE _TO TRY THIS!" Leo said, running onto shore. He was soaking wet, dripping saltwater all over the sand and beach towels. He grabbed Jason's arm and began to drag him away.

"PIPER!" Jason shouted. He tried to dig his heels into the sand to stop Leo from pulling him into his inevitable doom, but it was no use. The kid was hyped up on Vanilla Bean Fraps and Vitamin D.

"STOP RESISTING!" Leo shouted.

"STOP-" Jason couldn't think of any clever remarks. "JUST STOP, OKAY?"

"BUT YOU _HAVE _TO COME TRY THIS!" Leo whined.

By this time, their shouting had attracted the attention of everyone on the beach. The Aphrodite cabin, sun tanning on the beach, looked up from behind their sunglasses. The Hephaestus cabin was staring too. Even Percy and Annabeth were there, stifling laughter at the scene Leo and Jason had created.

Jason became so flustered by all the eyes trained on him that he momentarily stopped resisting. Leo yanked hard on his arm at that very second, and the two of them went flying into the water. Together, they created a huge splash and were completely submerged.

The water was icy cold and murky. Jason tried to open his eyes beneath the liquid, but he couldn't see two feet in front of himself. Beneath the water, Jason felt so disoriented. He had no clue which was up or down. Suddenly, he felt something smooth and slimy tangle around his ankles. He kicked, trying to escape the grasp of the sludgy vine from beneath.

All the while, Leo had still managed to hold onto his arm. Jason pried Leo's fingers off of his forearm. He needed air. Badly. He could feel the lack of oxygen already affecting him. His head reeled. How long had he been down here? He wasn't quite sure. He fluttered away from Leo's hostile grip and broke the surface, gasping for air.

Above the water, Jason hungrily drank in the air. "I'm alive!" He gasped. He wiped his eyes and flipped his blonde hair out of his face. He used his arms to keep him aloft in the murky drink.

Seconds later, Leo appeared, spitting out water. He met Jason's steely glare and shot him a Leo-tastic grin. "THAT. WAS. AWESOME!" He announced for the whole camp to hear.

The campers back on the beach and nearby in the water let out a chorus of laughter. Apparently, even after Leo and Jason fell into the water, the campers had continued to watch with rapt attention.

Jason self-consciously looked down and realized that he still had his shirt on. _Great, _He thought. _Now it's soaking wet! _He instinctively reached up to his face to re-adjust his aviator sunglasses, but they weren't there anymore. His sunglasses had gotten knocked off in the water.

"_Leo…_" Jason growled. He turned to Leo and gave him a death glare, his face twisted in fury.

Leo didn't notice. He was too busy eating the attention up. He beamed and bowed as much as was possible in the water. "Thank you, thank you! I try. Yes, I know, I'm amazing."

Jason felt his face getting hot, and it wasn't because he was outside in the summer heat. He didn't need this.

"I'm going back in," He mumbled, beginning to dog-paddle to shore.

"No! Wait! Don't go! Whale you stay pleeassee?" Leo said, laughing at his ocean pun. Jason didn't notice. "You can have my inner tube!"

The neon green inflatable hit Jason square in the head. "Ow," He muttered. He pulled it over his head.

Jason looked back to shore to see Piper watching them. She grinned and waved, also giving an encouraging thumbs up. Jason waved right back and beckoned for her to come in the water, afraid that he might die out here with Leo. He was still freaked out by the water- and with good reason. He didn't want to stay in too long or-

Jason's vision was suddenly obscured as the world blurred and tilted around him.

"WHEE!" Leo screeched as he spun Jason's inner tube in a circle. "Isn't this fun?"

Jason held his head as he began to become light-headed. "I don't know about fun, dude. But I'm getting dizzy, so if you could stop, that'd be grand."

Leo did as he was asked and cracked up as Jason's sky blue eyes swirled in his skull. When he had his bearings back again, he turned to Leo.

"I'll probably regret asking this, but what was it that you wanted to show me out here?"

Leo's eyes lit up. "Right! WATCH THIS!" He held out the palm of his hand. "Prepare to be amazed!"

He lit a spark in his hand's palm, and pretty soon it was engulfed in flames. Jason winced. He knew that Leo was immune to fire, but it was a rather odd sight to witness.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Of course!" Leo then took his hand and completely submerged it beneath the water. Steam rose from where the fire and water had met, and soon the two boys were concealed in a cloud of vapor.

"That's pretty cool," Jason admitted.

"It gets better!"

Jason craned his neck to get a better look. What he saw didn't make any sense to him. "Whoa…" He heard himself say.

Leo had submerged his flame engulfed hand in the water, but Jason had expected it to snuff out. Instead, the fire was _still lit _beneath the water. The bright orange flames illuminated the dark green water around it.

"How does it do that?" Jason asked. He kept staring at the flame in wonder.

Leo shrugged. "I have no clue!" He smiled mischievously.

"You are one special kid, Leo Valdez."

"I know."

"We have to show Piper!" Jason said, using it as an excuse to get out of the water. He hoped it wasn't too late. If he was in here any longer, who knows what would happen. He looked down at his hands. They had begun to shake again, so he tucked them inside the inner tube.

Jason had begun to kick and paddle towards the shore again. He didn't hear any objection from Leo, so he thought that it was okay.

"Uh, Jason…" Leo's voice came from behind him, sounding small. It lacked the usual confidence Leo usually exerted.

He briefly stopped and swirled around in his inner tube to see what was wrong. Only, Leo wasn't there. In fact, Leo was paddling and free-style stroking furiously towards the shore line. He had already passed Jason. How had he missed that?

"JASON! COME ON!" Leo yelled.

"COMING!" Jason shouted back, only his sight was fixed on the terror now streaking towards him.

A fifty foot tidal wave was headed straight towards him, the campers, and the beach.

And he knew it was his entire fault.

* * *

This had happened before, which was why he had tried so hard to prevent it from happening again, but it was no use.

Jason turned and began to paddle as fast as he could back to shore. He could see the campers on the beach panicking- some were packing up in a futile attempt to save their things, while others dropped everything they were doing and took off.

Leo had made it to shore ahead of him. He assumed it was because Leo actually knew how to swim. Jason, on the other hand, had always had bad experiences with water and was never given the chance to truly learn. He was a really dreadful swimmer. Thank gods Leo had given him the inner tube, or he would have been sunk. Literally.

He could see Leo and Piper at the beach waiting for him. They were calling out his name along with encouragements. Leo was doing hand gestures on how to paddle, but Jason had no clue what he was trying to say. He continued to dog-paddled furiously through the water. He thought he was getting closer, so then why did they look farther away?

Then Jason felt it. The undercurrent in the water! It was dragging him and his inner tube away from shore, all the way into the gaping jaws of the oncoming tidal wave. Why had he been so stupid!? This was Poseidon's territory. He had learned the hard way time and time again that the sea-god didn't want anything to do with a son of Zeus in his domain!

Once Jason realized it was futile, he threw his hands up exasperatedly and shrugged. Leo and Piper were still watching him, still telling him to paddle. He dipped his hands back in the water and began paddling all over again.

Back on shore, the beach was all but abandoned now. Jason saw that Percy and Annabeth had now joined Leo and Piper. Percy! He would know what to do. After all, he was a son of Poseidon.

Percy stared intently at the waves. He held out his hand and grimaced in concentration. He was trying to stop the wave. Jason figured that while Percy was busy saving him, he should at least try and save himself. So He said a quick prayer.

_Um, Neptune? I mean Poseidon? Yeah, it's me, Jason, the demigod you're trying to kill right now. Could you please not kill me today? I know you don't like me in your oceans, but Leo dragged me in here! And it's really hard to argue with Leo once he's set his mind to something. So, yeah, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. Thanks._

The wave was much closer now. He could see the spray tumbling off of its crest. Jason didn't want to die, especially by drowning. That was one of his worst nightmares.

"HELP!" Jason cried.

"WE'RE TRYING!" Piper called back. She clutched her hands worriedly by her heart.

"HOLD ONTO THE INNER TUBE!" Leo shouted. "WHATEVER YOU DO, _DON'T LET GO OF THE INNER TUBE!"_

The roar of the waves was near deafening now. Jason braced for impact. This was it. Poseidon seemed set on killing him. Even Percy's own powers over the sea couldn't save him.

He felt himself rising. He was riding the wave, now. He'd really be in trouble when it began to crash and crumble in on itself.

A shadow passed over him, and Jason looked up. He'd spoken too soon. The wave would crash in on itself in a matter of seconds and send him tumbling deep into the depths of the sea, keeping him down and disoriented long enough for him to run out of oxygen slowly.

_What a fun way to die. _Jason thought bitterly.

* * *

Back on shore, Piper was freaking out.

"What do we do!?" Piper yelled.

Percy cringed, concentrating so hard, sweat had begun to bead across his forehead. "I'm… trying…"

Annabeth piped in. "It's a good thing he has that inner tube. That might help him if… you know, he gets dragged under…"

"And from there, Percy can dive in and rescue Jason!" Leo helpfully added in. "Well, ah, if it comes to that."

"It's gonna cave in on Jason!" Piper said. She hid her face in her hands, occasionally peaking between her fingers.

* * *

Jason could tell Percy was slowing the wave down. It wasn't cresting as nearly as fast as it would have under normal circumstances, but it was still all together terrifying.

"WATCH OUT!" He heard from shore.

He looked up to see the wave finally caving in on itself. "AAGHHHH!" the water roared, down pouring over him. The cries from shore were drowned out, the only sound coming from the sloshing water around him. His vision blurred and everything went dark. He held onto his inner tube for dear life as the world around him spun out of his control.

The wave's forward motion pushed Jason towards shore faster than he could have ever swam. He attempted to hold his breath, but it was of no use. Beneath the water, his lungs were already burning in his chest. He couldn't hold the air in his lungs any longer. Bubbles of air trickled from his mouth as he lost consciousness. He only hoped that by the time he stopped tumbling through the water, he'd still be alive.

* * *

"There hasn't been any sign of Jason! Where's Jason!? Oh gods…" Piper looked extremely troubled.

"It shouldn't be this hard to spot him. I mean, I gave him my bright neon green inner tube!" said Leo as he pointed to the ocean.

It had been mere minutes since the tidal wave had reached its crest, taking Jason down under with it. Long Island sound was completely calm now, as if nothing had even happened. The beach was near deserted, all except for Leo, Piper, and Annabeth. Percy had dived into the water to try and find Jason.

"I SEE HIM! I SEE HIM!" Piper shrieked with delight. "Is he okay? Is he dead?"

Annabeth put a hand on Piper's shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look.

"Sorry. It's just… I can't lose him." Piper met Annabeth's gaze, and both shared a look of understanding. Annabeth lost Percy once. She knew the exact feelings that Piper felt at the moment.

Percy had seen Jason in his bright green inner tube. He swam to his side and began to drag him onto shore by the rubber of the tube. The others all met with Percy and helped him bring Jason out of the water. Exhausted, Percy flopped onto the sand beside them.

Piper immediately went to Jason's side to check for breathing. "He's not breathing!" She said.

Annabeth examined the situation. "He needs CPR. Luckily, I know that." She said, getting down on her knees beside Jason's slack body. She placed her hands in a fist and on his chest, pushing hard three times.

That was all she needed to do. The force caused Jason to jerk awake. He immediately rolled onto his side and began to cough up water. He began to breathe once again, taking slow, shaky breathes.

Gently, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. Jason felt so worn out and exhausted.

"I… I-" Jason's voice cracked, trying to talk and breathe. It shouldn't have been that hard to do, it was just _talking_, but Jason couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Before he knew what was happening, Piper's arms were around him. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" She said harshly, her breath warm against his ear. He hugged her back in return.

After a long embrace, she pulled away from the hug and looked him straight in the eyes. "That's why you didn't want to go in the water, wasn't it?"

Jason nodded reluctantly.

"Wait, you _knew _that was going to happen?" Leo asked.

"Well, yeah." Jason said, finding his voice had returned. He shrugged. "It always does."

"Makes sense," Annabeth joined in. "Poseidon wouldn't like a son of Zeus in his domain. Just like Zeus doesn't like Percy in his."

Percy nodded. "Yeah. I guess you could say flying isn't really my thing."

"I don't think that gives the gods the right to _kill _innocent demigods if they're 'in their domain' or whatever!" Piper retorted back.

Percy shrugged. "I know. It makes no sense whatsoever. I mean, you're dad has it out for me," He said, pointing at Jason. "Just like I guess my dad has it out for you now." He paused, looking confused. "Wait a second, when exactly did _that_ start? Did this ever happen to Thalia?"

"I honestly don't know." Jason replied. "I used to do a lot of surfing, back when I was younger. That's when it all started. But then I almost got killed in a freak accident, no doubt caused by Neptune, and I had to stop. I'm just really glad I'm out of the water."

"C'mon," Piper said. She lent a hand and helped Jason get up off the sand. "Let's go get you a lemonade."

"That sounds good." Jason smiled back.

"CAN I COME?!" Leo asked eagerly.

"No, Leo." Jason and Piper both chimed in at the same time.

"Aww, man." Leo said, kicking the sand, a dejected look on his face. He looked like a lost puppy. "Why not?"

"You dragged Jason in the water and almost got him killed!" Piper exclaimed.

"But I'm the one who gave him the green inner tube! That helped save his life!"=

Jason looked from Leo to Piper. "Well, he does have a point."

"Alright, fine. You can come too." She smiled at Leo.

"YES!" Leo fist pumped the air. "IM NOT FOREVER ALONE!" He threw his arms around Jason and Piper. "Can I just say, we have the most beautiful friendship ever?"

The three headed off towards the main center of camp, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone on the beach.

"So, do I get a kiss?" Percy asked Annabeth. "I mean, I did something pretty heroic. I think that deserves a kiss." He flashed a classic Percy smile. He leaned in and began to close his eyes.

What he was met with was a fistful of sand. "Maybe another time, seaweed brain." Annabeth smirked. "I don't know about you, but that lemonade is sounding pretty good right now."

"Can't argue with you there!" Percy agreed, his green eyes gleaming. "Wait up!" Percy called, running after the trio a few feet ahead. They turned and stopped to wait for them. "Wha- _oof!_"

Percy tripped over a rock and went tumbling face first into the grassy dunes.

"Need a hand?" Annabeth laughed.

"That'd be great, thanks." Percy took it and got up. "Wow, that rock came out of nowhere! I think the Earth is trying to atta-" Percy stopped midsentence as Annabeth gave him a kiss on the cheek. A slight blush erupted on his cheeks.

"You're such a seaweed brain."

"And you are a wise girl."

"BAHAHAHAHA!" Came the stifled laughs from the trio in front. Leo did most of the laughing though.

Leo turned around to face the two. "You're my OTP!"

"Um. What did he just say? I can't be that stupid." Percy said, looking perplexed.

"I think he said OTP. And I for once have no clue what that is." Annabeth said. "Do you guys know what an OTP is?"

"No clue," Jason and Piper shrugged.

"WHERE'S MY LEMONADE?!" Leo shouted. "OTP! OTP! FEEEEELS!" He ran off towards his cabin. The others continued on without them. They figured they'd run into him sooner or later that night.

Jason may have been walking into the middle of camp looking disheveled in his soaking wet t-shirt and wildly messy blonde hair, but he didn't care. He was alive and he was with Piper and his friends. And that was enough for him.

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
